Hydrophobic Phosphonate and Silane Chemistry

1 . A device comprising:

a. a substrate;

a. a phosphonate-coating located on the substrate, wherein the phosphonate-coating includes:

where:

i. each R 1 independently is a hydrophobic group;

ii. Z is a bond to the substrate;

iii. each R 5 is independently a chemical element or a group.

2 . The device of claim 1 , wherein at least one R 5 is —OCH 3 .

3 . The device of claim 1 , wherein:

b. R 5 is a phosphonate-reactive-group, R 1 , R 6 , or Z;

c. the phosphonate-reactive-group is —Cl, —OR 6 , —OCOR 6 , or —OH;

d. each R 6 is independently an alkyl group, an aryl group, or combinations thereof.

4 . The device of claim 1 , the hydrophobic group includes CF 3 (CF 2 ) n (CH 2 ) m , where n and m are integers within the boundaries of: 0≦n≦20 and 0≦m≦5.

5 . The device of claim 1 , further comprising a silane-coating located on the substrate, wherein the silane-coating includes chemical formula (1), chemical formula (2), or combinations thereof:

where:

i. r s a positive integer;

ii. X is a bond to the substrate;

iii. each R 3 is independently a chemical element or a group.

6 . The device of claim 5 , wherein at least one R 3 is —OCH 3 .

7 . The device of claim 5 , wherein:

a. each R 3 is independently selected from the group consisting of: a silane-reactive-group, —H, R 1 , R 6 , and X;

b. each silane-reactive-group is independently selected from the group consisting of: —Cl, —OR 6 , —OCOR 6 , —N(R 6 ) 2 , and —OH; and

c. each R 6 is independently an alkyl group, an aryl group, or combinations thereof.

8 . The device of claim 5 , wherein:

a. the substrate includes a plurality of protrusions, and gaps between the protrusions, extending outwards from a base-portion of the substrate;

b. the silane-coating and the phosphonate-coating are conformal-coatings.

9 . The device of claim 5 , wherein:

a. the substrate includes different regions made of different materials;

b. one region of the substrate includes at least three times more silane-coating than phosphonate-coating; and

c. another region of the substrate includes at least three times more phosphonate-coating than silane-coating.

10 . The device of claim 5 , wherein:

a. the substrate includes different regions made of different materials;

b. X is —O—Si; and

c. Z is —O-Metal, where Metal s a metal atom.

11 . A phosphonate chemical including (R 1 ) i PO(R 4 ) j (R 5 ) k , where:

a. each R 1 independently is a hydrophobic group;

b. i is 1 or 2, j is 1 or 2, k is 0 or 1, and i+j+k=3;

c. R 4 is a phosphonate-reactive-group;

d. each phosphonate-reactive-group is independently selected from: —Cl, —OR 6 , —OCOR 6 , and —OH;

e. each R 6 is independently an alkyl group, an aryl group, or combinations thereof; and

f. each R 5 , if any, is independently any chemical element or group.

12 . The phosphonate chemical of claim 11 , wherein the phosphonate chemical has a molecular weight between 400 and 600 grams per mole.

13 . A method of applying protective chemistry to a device, the method comprising applying a phosphonate chemical onto a substrate of the device by vapor deposition, wherein the chemical includes (R 1 ) i PO(R 4 ) j (R 5 ) k , where:

a. each R 1 independently is a hydrophobic group;

a. i is 1 or 2, j is 1 or 2, k is 0 or 1, and i+j+k=3;

b. R 4 is a phosphonate-reactive-group and each phosphonate-reactive-group is independently selected from: —Cl, —OR 6 , —OCOR 6 , and —OH;

c. each R 6 is independently an alkyl group, an aryl group, or combinations thereof; and

d. each R 5 , if any, is independently any chemical element or group.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the phosphonate chemical has a molecular weight between 400 and 600 grams per mole.

15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein:

a. R 5 is a phosphonate-reactive-group, R 1 , R 6 , or Z; and

b. the phosphonate-reactive-group is —Cl, —OR 6 , —OCOR 6 , or —OH.

16 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising exposing the device to a gas before applying the phosphonate chemical, wherein the gas includes water vapor and the water vapor has a pressure of less than 100 Torr.

17 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising baking the device after applying the phosphonate chemical, wherein baking the device occurs at a temperature between 100° C. and 320° C. for between 5 and 90 minutes.

18 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising plasma cleaning the device, at a temperature between 140° C. and 200° C., before applying the phosphonate chemical.

19 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising applying a silane chemical onto the substrate by vapor deposition, wherein the silane chemical includes Si(R 1 ) d (R 2 ) e (R 3 ) g where:

a. d is 1, 2, or 3, e is 1, 2, or 3, g is 0, 1, or 2, and d+e+g=4;

b. R 2 is a silane-reactive-group;

c. each silane-reactive-group is independently selected from: —Cl, —OR 6 , —OCOR 6 , —N(R 6 ) 2 , and —OH; and

d. each R 3 , if any, is independently any chemical element or group.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein:

a. each R 3 is independently selected from the group consisting of: a silane-reactive-group, —H, R 1 , R 6 , and X; and

b. each silane-reactive-group is independently selected from the group consisting of: —Cl, —OR 6 , —OCOR 6 , —N(R 6 ) 2 , and —OH.